Minneapolis woman uses Craigslist to call out drive-by creep

Attention Twin Cities dudes who make lewd remarks to women you pass on the street: one of them has a strongly worded message for you.

A 27-year-old Minneapolis law-office employee named Lindsey (last name withheld) is attracting a growing stream of online reaction for posting an unusual “Missed Connections” item on Craigslist that reflects the frustration many women feel about catcalls or suggestions to “smile” given them by random male strangers they encounter in public.

Lindsey said she was waiting for the light rail at American Blvd. and 34th Ave. in Bloomington, arms laden with take-home paperwork, when a middle-aged man in a green SUV leaned out his window and “made some ridiculous series of leering comments about whether I was wearing a thong, right as the light changed and you peeled off, pleased with yourself and saved from any consequences...."

She continued: "Let me make this abundantly clear, to you and to the other men reading this: when you comment on a woman’s appearance, you are not doing it for her. You are doing it for you. It’s not some great way to make a woman feel sexy and appreciated. It’s not flattery, even if you mean for it to be.”

Lindsey is not the first woman to take to the Internet to blast indiscriminate street lechery.

The website Hollaback is devoted to exposing such behavior by encouraging women to post photos of alleged catcallers snapped on cell phones.

But her post has apparently struck a particular chord, getting picked up by nationally prominent sites like Gawker and Jezebel and prompting both supportive and critical comments.